“Who are those guys?”

by David Benjamin   “Sundance Kid: I can’t swim! “Butch Cassidy: Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill ya.” — William Goldman    MADISON, Wis.—Once, many moons ago, while researching a book about inventions, I toured a carpet factory in South Carolina. The company was a giant in its industry, with hundreds of non-union…

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Follicle wars, conformity follies

by David Benjamin “Get a haircut and get a real job/ Clean your act up and don’t be a slob/ Get it together like your big brother Bob … ” —George Thorogood and the Destoyers   MADISON, Wis.—My favorite vignette in America’s endlessly recycling follicle wars appears in Robert Zemeckis’ little-noted but remarkably significant—and fun!—film,…

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The Kafka thread

The choice between writing “realism” or venturing into science-fiction and fantasy is often irrevocable, unless the writer can somehow follow the unique example of Franz Kafka.   by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis.—Every fiction writer, often subconsciously, decides early in life whether to base his or her stories in the “real” world or to venture instead……

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A voice in the distance

by David Benjamin   “Back then, it was students against the institution. Now it’s very different because it’s student against student.”” —Paul Brest, professor emeritus, Stanford Law School   MADISON, Wis.—When I was matriculating at a little liberal arts outpost called Rockford College (pop. 450), there were two noticeably outspoken right-wing students. One, from Boston,…

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Privy counsel

by David Benjamin “… conservatives … argue that the crisis in Americasn schools is … about leftist teachers propagandizing on critical race theory and giving kids new pronouns while denying them safe bathrooms.” —Nicholas Kristoff, The New York Times   MADISON, Wis.—In Nicholas Kristoff’s eloquent assessment of the real problem with American public schools, I…

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Why every author needs a gun catalog

by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis.—Almost every male who grew up between—roughly—1960 and 1990 knows which cinema hero carried, tucked into a slim side-holster so as not to disturb the line of his suit, a Walther PPK.  As I thought about James Bond’s favorite pistol, I got curious about it and opened my Standard Catalog of……

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Toward a philosophy of the gun

by David Benjamin   “Speaking personally, you can have my gun, but you’ll take my book when you pry my cold, dead fingers off of the binding.” —Stephen King   MADISON, Wis.—My gun of choice is a .22 caliber rifle with a telescopic sight. It’s actually the only gun I’ve ever used. It belonged to…

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